DENISON — Creston snared the momentum from Denison-Schleswig in taking a 2-1 victory Thursday.
After falling behind 1-0, the Panthers tied it before halftime and won it on a penalty kick by Conner Pals with 7:19 remaining. Pals netted both Creston goals.
The league win pushed Creston to 2-0 in the Hawkeye 10 and 4-2 overall. Denison-Schleswig fell to 0-2 and 0-1 in H-10 play.
The two head coaches had differing opinions of the late tiebreaking goal.
“Creston played us very physically and we didn’t match their level of physicality tonight,” said Denison-Schleswig coach Carlos Trevino. “Their penalty kick resulted from a very questionable call as it was apparent that their player took a dive to try to draw the penalty kick. However, we aren’t going to win many games by only taking nine shots.”
Pals tied the match with 19:21 remaining in the first half, making a good move after a long punt by goalkeeper Alex Nielsen, who was credited with the assist.
“Pals had a great game,” Creston coach Jesus Rodriguez said. “It (penalty) could have been called at least two times earlier. Finally, in the second half when he got knocked down inside the 18, we got the PK call and he was able to put it in.”
D-S took the early lead with 28:42 remaining in the first half. Alvaro Flores scored his first goal of the season on a shot 6 yards in front of the right post.
It stayed tied until the PK call on a foul from 17 yards out with 7:19 remaining.
“We were down and told the guys we have to play more physical,” Rodriguez said. “We can’t let them breathe, can’t let them turn with the ball. We started dominating the game.”
Trevino said his team didn’t respond to the tactic.
“Creston double or triple-teamed the ball when we got the ball inside of 25 yards and we continued to try to dribble through it instead of passing the ball to an open player,” the Monarchs coach said. “For some reason we never got back to crossing the ball and we had a lot of bad touches.”
Rodriguez said the Panther attack frequently came through the left side, led by freshman Evan Jacobson.
“He can cross and shoot with both legs, which gave us a lot of offense tonight,” Rodriguez said. “That was our main channel of attack tonight. Our center mids got everything out of the air in the second half. The guys were excited. We needed a win like this in the conference.”
The busy week continues with the Winterset Tournament Saturday, starting with a 10 a.m. match against Indianola. Oskaloosa and Winterset meet in the other first-round game, with third-place and championship matches scheduled at 11:15 a.m.
Rodriguez said his bench will come into play, as some players have a conflict in taking college entrance exams Saturday morning.
Creston 2, Denison-Schleswig 1
Creston (2) — Conner Pals (Alex Nielsen assist) 28:42 first half; Pals PK 7:19 second half. Shots (on goal) — 11 (4 on goal). Individual shots (on goal)— McClain Haines 3 (2 on goal), Conner Pals 3 (2 on goal), Evan Jacobson 1, Gavin Woods 1. Keeper saves — Alex Nielsen 4. Cards — Kyle Jennett (Y).
D-S (1) — Alvaro Flores (Nelson Lopez assist), 28:42 first half. Shots (on goal) — 9 (4 on goal). Saves — Joshua Bonilla 7.